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The Mule
The Mule was the original robot from Team Big Cheese, although Roger Plant was the sole roboteer behind controlling and construction of The Mule. Entered in Series 2 of Robot Wars, it lost at the Heat Final stage, but won the award for the Best Engineered Robot. Design The Mule was a box-shaped robot with three "bucking legs", which were actually CO2-powered rams. It also featured a CO2-powered forklift that could lift up to 260lbs (150kg). It was powered by a 12v 25 ampere hour Hawker Energy Cyclon battery, supplied by sponsors Hawker Energy, and three Briggs and Stratton starter motors, which gave it 4 horse power electric drive. The wheels and motors were from second-hand lawnmowers. Sponsors David Brown and Fairchild Semiconductor provided the gearboxes and power Mosfets respectively. The Mule had three 225 amp mosfet 4 quadrant motor controllers, designed and built by Roger Plant, and had full solid state remote control using fibre optic links between the electronics and speed controllers to minimise interference. The armour was 1mm aluminium. The robot used a unique split between red and green for its colour-scheme, with drawings of kicking mules. The artwork was supplied by AP Signs, Taunton. The robot had variable height suspension, which allowed it to lift the chassis up and down, so The Mule could travel at full speed over rough ground. Roger Plant spent four months building The Mule, at a cost of £400. Robot History Series 2 The Mule pushed forward in the Gauntlet, but drove into Matilda. Matilda blocked it, raising her tusks and holding The Mule back. The Mule reversed for another charge, briefly getting caught on an arena spike. Matilda reversed down the course as the Sentinel swung over, but The Mule dodged around the Sentinel, and drove down the course. Matilda drove out of The Mule's way, allowing it complete the course. The Mule completed the course in the fastest time, placing it first on the leaderboard. The Mule was through to the Trial, which in this Heat was King of the Castle. Dead Metal grabbed its front, whilst Sergeant Bash trapped it from behind, but The Mule pushed back and used its forklift to negate the blade of Dead Metal. Sergeant Bash used its saw on The Mule, but The Mule pushed it back with the legs, and Sergeant Bash kept its distance. Dead Metal could not push The Mule towards the edge, and The Mule pushed Dead Metal back. The Mule lasted the full 30 seconds and moving through to the Arena stage. It was drawn against Demon. Both robots slowly moved towards each other, but neither could push the other back, so both robots reversed for another charge. The Mule got its forklift under Demon and lifted it up a little, but as The Mule turned, Demon fell off the forklift. The Mule reversed away, driving over a flame pit into the PPZ. It quickly drove out and got at the side of Demon, pushing it towards the PPZ. Demon turned away, and after pushing it around, The Mule tried to get its forklift under Demon, but did not get the forks under its opponent. Demon got under The Mule, and slowly pushed it into the PPZ. The Mule was caught by Sergeant Bash and Dead Metal, and Shunt pinned it against the wall and axed it. However, as the House Robots attacked The Mule, Demon had broken down, and Sir Killalot drove up the wedge. Cease was called, and the battle went to the judges, who went for The Mule. In the Heat Final, The Mule fought the only veteran in the Heat, Plunderbird 2. Both robots drove at each other, and Plunderbird 2's scoop got under The Mule, allowing Plunderbird 2 to push it up the arena. However, The Mule was able to get its forklift under Plunderbird 2's scoop, lifting it up and allowing itself to get free. It turned away and reversed at Plunderbird 2, then turned around and tried to get under Plunderbird 2's side. Plunderbird 2 prevented it from doing so by reversing, and The Mule reversed for another attack, but Plunderbird 2 got under The Mule, pushing it down the arena. Plunderbird 2 reversed a little, and The Mule managed to turn around, get at Plunderbird 2's side and turn it into the PPZ. Shunt axed Plunderbird 2, but The Mule drove into Shunt as it was pushing against Plunderbird 2, allowing Plunderbird 2 to get out of the PPZ. The Mule reversed away from the House Robot, then drove up Plunderbird 2's wedge as Cease was called. The Judges went for Plunderbird 2, putting them through to the Semi-Finals. At the end of the series, The Mule was awarded with the Best Engineered robot award. Results |} Wins/Losses *Wins: 1 *Losses: 1 NOTE: The Mule's successful Gauntlet and Trial runs are not included in the tally. Series Record Mule1.jpg|The Mule's internals Themule.jpg|The Mule with Roger Plant and its Best Engineered Award Welsh ComicCon robots.jpg|The Mule on Display at Welsh ComicCon in 2014 Honours Trivia *The Mule's weight listed on the show was 80.1 kg, nearly a kilo over the Heavyweight limit of the time. However, the Big Cheese Robot Company website lists The Mule's weight as 79.4 kg. External Links *The Mule on the Big Cheese Robot Company website (archived) Category:UK Series competitors Category:Best Engineered winners Category:Robots from Somerset Category:Robots with Lifters Category:Animal Based Robots Category:UK Heat Finalists Category:Robots with an equal amount of Wins and Losses Category:Robots to complete the Gauntlet Category:Robots which debuted in Series 2 Category:Robots which only fought in Series 2 Category:Robots with cameo appearances in Series 3